Balearic workers put in the most hours

Palma.— Along with Madrid, salaried workers in the Balearics clock up an average of 134.1 hours a month, higher than the national average of 131.
The figures were revealed in a report yesterday by a regional employment watchdog (OTIB) which has analysed data for 2011 including how trends for that year compare with previous years dating from 2007 (before the start of the economic crisis.)
However, hard as Balearic salaried employees might work and even though their remuneration in 2011 was the same level as in the previous year, they are not the highest paid. According to data compiled by a Central Government body the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the average monthly salary for workers in the Balearics last year was 1'771.07 euros, 6.5 percent lower than the national average of 1'894.84 euros. The INE report said that the reason why salaried workers in the Balearics have pay below the national average is due to the structure of the services industry in the Islands, the region's highest employer, where workers are largely engaged in medium to low-skilled tasks with limited chances of higher salaries.